Israel urging Canada, U.S. to curb criticism of Mubarak: Report

Israel, fearful of losing a crucial strategic ally in the Middle East, is pressuring the U.S., Canada, and several European countries to curb their criticism of Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak’s regime, an Israeli newspaper reported Monday.

Ambassadors in those countries as well as in Russia and China were ordered Saturday “to stress to their host countries the importance of Egypt’s stability,” according to Haaretz, considered by many observers to be Israel’s most influential daily newspaper.

“In a special cable, they were told to get this word out as soon as possible.”

An unidentified senior Israeli official told Haaretz that “the Americans and Europeans” are being swayed by public opinion over the wave of anti- Mubarak protests and aren’t considering their own interests.

“Even if they are critical of Mubarak they have to make their friends feel that they’re not alone,” Haaretz quoted the official saying. “Jordan and Saudi Arabia see the reactions in the West, how everyone is abandoning Mubarak, and this will have very serious implications.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on the weekend that his government is taking steps to ensure stability.

“The peace between Israel and Egypt has lasted for more than three decades and our objective is to ensure that these relations will continue to exist,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in an interview on Fox News Sunday, called for an “orderly transition” to democracy in Egypt — though she stopped short of calling for Mubarak’s removal.

“We want to see an orderly transition so that no one fills a void, that there not be a void — that there be a well thought-out plan that will bring about a democratic, participatory government,” she said.

“And I also believe strongly that this is in Egypt’s long-term interests, it’s in the interests of the partnership that the United States has with Egypt. So that is what we are attempting to promote and support, because clearly, what we don’t want is chaos. I don’t think the Egyptian people want that. They want their grievances to be addressed.

“We also don’t want to see some takeover that would lead not to democracy, but to oppression and the end of the aspirations of the Egyptian people.”

Her Canadian counterpart, Foreign Affairs Minister Lawrence Cannon, has used more diplomatic language.

“We continue to call on the Egyptian government to state its commitment to strengthening democracy, consultation, dialogue and cooperation,” he said Sunday.

“We urge the Egyptian government to accelerate the pace of democratic and economic reforms, and to listen to the aspirations of the Egyptian people.

“We deeply regret the continued loss of life during this crisis. We call on all parties to refrain from using violence, and the Egyptian authorities to respond to the protests peacefully.”

Cannon told CBC News on Saturday that the Harper government doesn’t want to interfere in Egypt’s internal affairs.

“The issue remains an Egyptian decision,” he said. “We don’t get involved in, as you know, the internal sovereignty of a country, so it’s up to President Mubarak to listen to the will of the people and to do what we think is the right thing to do in terms of bringing in reforms.”

British Prime Minister David Cameron, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel issued a statement on the weekend calling for “free and fair elections” as part of a transition to democracy.

“We are deeply concerned about the events that we are witnessing in Egypt,” they said in a joint statement.

“We recognize the moderating role President Mubarak has played over many years in the Middle East. We now urge him to show the same moderation in addressing the current situation in Egypt.”

Egypt and Israel signed a historic peace treaty in 1979, allowing Israel to cut its defence budget and concentrate its troops elsewhere, including in and around Jewish settlements in Palestinian territories, Haaretz commentator Aluf Benn noted in an analysis published Saturday.

If Mubarak falls, then Israel is left with two shaky allies in the region, the Palestinian Authority and Jordan, he wrote. In a separate analysis published this weekend, Benn also predicted that U.S. President Barack Obama will be remembered as the president who “lost” Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt.